Updated Sun. 4:30pm Eastern — see bottom of post

So reader Jumbo Slice (of the excellent DC Rock Club blog) raises a very good question about my 100 Bands in March Challenge:

Are there any ground rules? For example, what happens if you see a band at SXSW play two sets? Does that count as one or two? Do you need to see a band play more than one song? If one song counts, you could definitely rack up some big numbers at SXSW.

Good questions.

Yes, there are definitely ground rules… but they’re not gonna be ridiculously strict. 100 bands is hard enough to do as it is. I gotta give myself some leeway. So here’s what I think the ground rules are:

(1) In order to count as a band “seen”, I need to attend at least 5 minutes of their set. Now, before anyone gets upset, there is a corollary to this rule — I cannot go from venue to venue for 5 minutes at a time just to boost my numbers. After all, I’m going to SXSW to have fun, to see bands I like, and to discover some new bands. And to eat barbeque. So it’s not really in my interest to try to game this challenge, or to waste my own time when I could be seeing bands I like. And, plus, I get nothing for winning (or losing) this thing, so there’s really no reason to cheat.

Your next question might be why 5 minutes, and not 10? Because a lot of bands suck. And it usually takes no more than 5 minutes to figure it out. So if I go see Tinted Windows, take a couple pictures, listen to a song or two, and decide they’re as bad as a lot of people think they’re gonna be, then I’m gonna leave. But I still get credit for seeing them because, of course, I suffered through Taylor Hanson. The same goes for a bad opener at a show here in DC.

(2) Seeing the same band twice counts as two separate bands. Yeah, I know, this means that “100 bands in March” isn’t technically 100 “bands”, but instead 100 “sets”. But as I said, the purpose of my trip to SXSW is to see bands I like. So I don’t want to give myself an incentive to skip bands I like, and thereby diminish my enjoyment of SXSW, merely to meet this challenge.

That said, I can probably count on one hand the number of bands I’ve seen multiple times at SXSW in the past (The Figgs, Georgie James, Jay Reatard… I think that’s it). So it likely won’t be much of an issue.

(3) Collaborations don’t count as two bands. This one probably won’t come up much, as SXSW doesn’t tend to be a place where bands collaborate on stage all that much. But if, for example, the Figgs show up as the backing band for Graham Parker again, that counts as one band — unless, of course, the Figgs are then scheduled for the next 40-minute set to play on their own. Then it’s two bands. Clear enough?

(4) Seeing a band on the street doesn’t count. So if I see Tim Harrington of Les Savy Fav walking down 6th Street without a shirt, as it’s almost impossible NOT to do in Austin at SXSW or Brooklyn in the Summer, that doesn’t count as having seen a band.

(5) I can’t think of any more. If anyone thinks of anything other issues, leave a comment and I’ll consider them.

(6) Comedians DO count as bands. In other words, if I choose to see a set by Eugene Mirman or Todd Barry at SXSW, that counts as a “band”. Again, it’s linguistically questionable, but the point is the same — I don’t want to end up skipping things I want to see at SXSW.